Hong Kong plans to cull 2,000 hamsters over Covid fears. Pet owners are outraged

 

 Hong Kong will euthanize about 2,000 hamsters and other small animals after a pet store worker and several rodents tested positive for coronavirus, as the city pursues an uncompromising zero-Covid strategy two years into the pandemic.
The announcement by the Hong Kong government on Tuesday was met with outrage by pet owners and animals rights advocates, with several online petitions urging authorities to reconsider.
It comes after an emerging cluster linked to the Little Boss pet store, where a 23-year-old employee was confirmed positive for the Delta variant on Monday. A customer who visited the store and interacted with the employee later tested positive as well.

After investigating the pet store, officials said on Tuesday that 11 hamsters had tested preliminary positive for Covid, raising concerns around the possibility of animal-to-human transmission.
Generally, international health authorities have said the risk of transmission from animals to humans is possible, but low.
Environmental samples taken at the shop's warehouse, where other species of small animals are held, also confirmed traces of coronavirus, officials said. The hamsters at the pet store were imported from the Netherlands in two batches -- on December 22 and January 7.
On Tuesday, authorities seized all the small animals in the shop, including hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas, to be tested and euthanized -- regardless of the test result -- citing a health hazard to the public.
All pet stores selling hamsters in the city have been ordered to hand the animals over to be put down, with similar orders for anybody who bought a hamster in the lead-up to Christmas, beginning December 22.
Photos on Tuesday night show Covid control workers in hazmat suits at numerous pet stores, disinfecting the premises and bringing out bulky red plastic bags.
All animals taken from the store would be dealt with "humanely," authorities said.
Authorities also suspended the import of all small animals into the city, and told all pet stores selling hamsters to suspend operations immediately until all their small animals have tested negative. Officials urged residents on Tuesday to "adopt good hygiene practices" with their pets, including avoiding kissing them.
More than 20,000 people have signed the largest online petition urging the government not to cull the animals. Some social media users said many hamsters may have been bought around the holidays as gifts for young children.
"Hamsters are our family, everybody please think rationally, don't give them up because of one incident," said the Hamster Concern Society, a volunteer organization in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said in a statement it was "shocked and concerned" by the government's decision, which "did not take animal welfare and human-animal bond into consideration."
Source: CNN